Spring has sprung at Hidcote! Steady temperatures, bits and bobs in bloom all over the garden, endless birdsong, the honeybees, Brimstone butterflies and buzzards overhead playing their mating games: it’s all jolly exciting stuff! This year looks set to be another glorious one at Hidcote, with yet more repair and replanting going on about the place. Here are some highlights from the past few days to get my final year underway:
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| Hidcote Manor! Major Johnston bricked up this original entrance to the manor, and created the grander courtyard through which visitors now enter |
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| Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’, blooming in the Old Garden |
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| Straight lines surrounding the Gazebo at the top of the Long Walk |
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| The delicate beauty of Anemonella thalictroides, thriving in a damp shady spot |
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| Corydalis solida, favoured by Brimstone butterflies |
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| That view through Mrs Winthrop’s Garden, with the blooms of Euphorbia longifolia ‘Amjilassa’ just visible |
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| A tawny mining bee harvesting the above Euphorbia |
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| There are Helleborus orientalis cultivars blooming all over the garden! |
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| The beds of the Fuchsia Garden harbour Scilla siberica for the spring display |
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| Another of these cheeky chickens from Hidcote Manor Farm! |
11 comments:
Great to see evidence of spring at Hidcote! Scilla siberica is one of my favourites.
It already looks gorgeous. You might be one of the luckiest men alive!
Lovely to see Hidcote in its Spring coat. Is the tawny mining bee indigenous or one of those foreign bees?
So lovely I must try and get up for a visit before you go!!
This will be a poignant year, knowing it is your last. We will enjoy it - having your inside view of Hidcote is fabulous beyond measure!
Hi Bertie,
Good to see Hidcote awakening. Like so many of these older gardens it has a great structure. I really must get here one day...
Well, we in PA are finally keeping pace with you at Hidcote for the moment! My Scilla siberica are blooming now as well.
And I agree with jayne: I love the inside glimpses! Thanks for taking the time to share with us all!
Julie
Beautiful Spring blooms whilst the leaves are turning here...and so good to see a chook popping up in all that splendour! Keeps things real somehow!
Hi Bertie,
Things are certainly starting to pop up around Hidcote. I read your posting with a tinge of sadness knowing that this will be your last year. Will you pick up a blog at your next post of duty? Will you pass on "What Ho Hidcote" to an incoming trainee?
Cheers,
Michael
Dear Bertie - Just discovered your blog, and added it to my blogroll. Really enjoyed reading all your posts!! Especially loved seeing a snowy Hidcote. (Have never seen Hidcote under snow.) Is that common? Was in London in early March....glad to see signs of spring. Loi (Washington, DC)
toneontoneantiques.blogspot.com
Greetings all! And welcome along Loi. Michael, this blog will be archived in August when my time here ends. In September I'll start a blog about my new workplace!
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